Feature: "The Gardens" Symphony Premieres at Wharton

            The remarkable talents of MSU’s musicians were spotlighted in a world premiere of a major work of music, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Symphony No. 4, “The Gardens,” on Feb. 5 in the Catherine Herrick Cobb Great Hall in Wharton Center for Performing Arts.

            The symphony, which drew massive applause from the audience, was made possible by the generosity of MSU alumni Jack, ’54, MBA ’71, and Dottie Withrow, ‘55. Their gift two years ago enabled MSU to commission the Pulitzer Prize-winning Zwilich to write the piece to celebrate the beauty of the MSU campus and gardens. MSU conductor Leon Gregorian led some 400 musicians – the MSU Symphony Orchestra, State Singers, Chorale, Choral Union (the adult community choir that is organized through the School of Music), and the MSU Children’s Choir – in the symphony’s debut. Their performance was preserved in a professional CD recording session by New York’s Koch International Records (to be commercially released in a few months) and a videotaping by Eric Schultz of East Lansing Public Television Station WKAR (to be broadcast this fall).

            The premiere’s first-class festivities included a reception for 200 of the university’s donors, a pre-concert lecture-discussion hosted by the composer herself, as well as a moving speech by President McPherson to the 2,500 music lovers and members of the MSU community crowded into the Great Hall for the performance. “Any great university should be committed to engaging people in the full panorama of human existence,” McPherson noted, referring to the arts as well as academic and athletic endeavors.

             'This has been an incredible experience,' says Dottie Withrow. 'We have watched and listened as our vision of the beauty of MSU has been transformed into a magical and moving piece of music in Ellen’s hands. The collective skills and enthusiasm of the MSU Symphony Orchestra and the MSU choral ensembles have brought her composition to life.'

            Jim Forger, director of the School of Music, calls the Withrows’ gift 'a wonderful opportunity for our students to participate in the creative process by performing and recording a new symphonic work written by one of the world’s greatest composers. It is a unique showcase for the exceptionally talented students in the School of Music.'

            Forger helped the Withrows identify Zwilich, then worked to facilitate the working relationships among the donors, the composer, the campus horticulture experts, and, of course, the hundreds of MSU musicians who would be involved in the premiere performance. 'This project symbolizes the best kind of interrelationship among the academic community, the public, and professionals in the creative sphere,' notes Forger. 'With the support of the Withrows and the outstanding cooperation of many people on this campus, most notably the landscape artists from Campus Park and Planning and the university gardens curators, who powerfully influenced the composer, we have been able to participate in producing something that will stand as a tribute to and, I hope, long outlive the wonderful trees and growing things we see today.'

            Zwilich agrees. 'I was prepared to find the gardens beautiful and moving, but I was surprised to be so moved by the people who care for them,” she says. “I found that inspiring.'

            Deborah Kinney, one of MSU’s landscape architects, had organized an afternoon tour of the campus and gardens for Zwilich and the Withrows at the beginning of the project, with help from University Relations, Dr. Will Carlson, professor of Horticulture, Frank Telewski, associate professor and curator of W.J. Beal Botanical Garden and the Campus Woody Collection, and Jane Taylor, founding curator of the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden.

             As the symphony evolved, Kinney and her colleagues continued to work with Zwilich, providing lists of Latin names for the plants, for example, that would become a litany to be chanted by the chorus in the first movement. 'One of the things that happens to you when you’re in a garden is something spiritual,' Zwilich says. 'The sense of space, the sense of peace, the sense of the whole. I wanted to reflect that feeling, that deep involvement with nature that is so difficult to express in words alone.'

            author’s note: Kathy Walsh is the Public Information Officer for the School of Music. sidebar on CD: The MSU Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Gregorian, director of orchestras, has just finished recording Symphony No. 4, “The Gardens” by the internationally renowned American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The symphony, commissioned by MSU alumns Jack and Dottie Withrow, includes four movements: I. Introduction: Litany of Endangered Plants; II. Meditation on Living Fossils; III. A Pastoral Journey; and IV. The Children’s Promise. The two other works on the CD were also recorded by MSU’s Symphony Orchestra: Concerto for Bass Trombone, Strings, Timpani, and Cymbals and Concerto for Horn and String Orchestra. The CD, produced by Koch International Classics, will soon be available through all record outlets, including internet retailers. sidebar on MSU Symphony:

THE MSU SYMPHONY

            The Symphony Orchestra of the School of Music at Michigan State University has long been regarded as one of the premier performing ensembles in the state of Michigan and the Midwest. Under the direction of Leon Gregorian, the MSU Symphony Orchestra presents 12 concerts every academic year, with artists from the music faculty and guest artists as featured soloists. These guest artists have included pianists Earl Wild and Peter Nero and his trio; violinists Daniel Heifetz, David Cerone, Gil Shaham, and Jiri Tomasek; violist John Graham; cellists Julian Lloyd Webber, Steven Doane, and Anthony Elliot; organist Berj Zamkochian; trumpeter Frank Kadarabek; baritones Robert Merrill and Timothy Noble; mezzo sopranos Frederica von Stade and Marilyn Horne; and the Canadian Brass.

            The Orchestra comprises both talented undergraduate and graduate music majors, and is highly selective, with every member chosen after extensive auditions. The orchestra performs a wide and varied repertoire of music selected from the great masterworks of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, and has brought several world, American, and Michigan premieres to local audiences. The Symphony Orchestra has also toured the Midwest and the East Coast, performing to enthusiastic audiences in the nation’s leading concert halls, and has been recognized by the Music Educator’s National and International Conferences, and the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association.

            Gregorian also directs the School of Music’s Chamber Orchestra, which is composed primarily of graduate music majors, the Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Campus Orchestra.

            MSU artist Bob Brent designed artwork showing four seasons of flowers in a 'vase' made from a rolled page of the musical score. The artwork has been made into a 19' x 27' poster, of which 1,000 copies were printed. The posters will be available to $100-donors to MSU’s “Campus Beautification-Planting Tomorrow’s Heritage Today” program ($250-donors and above will receive a poster autographed by Zwilich). Gifts can be mailed to Karen Wenk, Campus Park and Planning, 412 Olds Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824-1047.